We arrived back in Boston early Monday morning, and I am struggling to fill this space. It seems as if we played the Red Sox two months ago. It is very difficult to try and piece together the last 10 days. They all seem to run into one another. This happens when you log a bunch of miles, trying to squeeze in as many games as possible, knowing that a portion of the schedule will be lost to this year's New England weather.

On Tuesday, we finally put up a 'W' by beating Duquesne 1-0. The team was hoping to generate a little more offense, but with the way these tight one-run ballgames have been going, we'll take it and run.

The win had a little extra to it as well. Having brought the golf clubs along for the trip, I vowed not to tee it up until we won a game. And it could not have come at a better time for I finally ironed out my Paul Keyes (Virginia Commonwealth head coach) snap hook that had been plaguing me.

A loss at Stetson (10-6) and a win back in Bradenton against Valparaiso (13-11) left us at 2-6. The team had settled in at the Baseball Academy in Bradenton for the remainder of the trip.

A staff meeting was held at AMF Bowling Lanes after the Valpo game to discuss player evaluations and any possible lineup changes. The meeting turned into a heated match, producing antics and trash talk worthy of Smackdown Wrestling with every strike made. We had a lot of laughs, and the search is still on to find as many ugly collared shirts in one place.

On Friday, with four coaches walking around a little gingerly with sore hamstrings and forearms from the previous night, we faced Holy Cross. Holy Cross versus Boston College in years past had been a tremendous rivalry, not only in baseball but in all sports. Baseball games back in the '50s and '60s between the two schools would draw fans in the thousands. Today, it is just another team to go out and beat.

Our offense was a little sluggish early. The hitters, however, did a good job making adjustments at the plate and managed to put a few hits together and take advantage of a few errors, and we won 7-5.

The next day was a super one to play two. The bats were starting to come alive, and the guys were starting to feel comfortable at the plate, having a good approach, recognizing pitches, getting good pitches to hit. We came away with two wins, beating St. Bonaventure (10-2) and Valpo (6-0) to get to 5-6.  What a great day -- played 9 holes in the morning, won a double dip and then topped it off with a poolside cookout back at the complex. Let's stay another week!

On our final day in Bradenton we had a morning game against Lehigh. The guys had played a lot of baseball in the past 10 days, traveling here and there. It would be easy to cash it in on this day, but the team grinded it out to win 1-0 to get to .500 (6-6). It feels a heck of a lot better on this side of these close games.

The trip ended on a high note as we head into conference play riding a five-game winning streak. The pitching has been tremendous, producing three shutouts during this span, and we proved that we can win tight ballgames. The hitters still need a little work, and if the defense can step it up a little, we should have some success in the Big East.
 

Steve Englert

(photo courtesy of BC Media Relations Office)